VW looking to boost sales in China

BEIJING — German automaker Volkswagen AG says it hopes to sell more than two million cars in 2010 in China and open four new plants there in the near future.

VW head of operations in China, Winfried Vahland, told German news agency DAPD late yesterday that he expects sales revenue to increase by 20 percent this year. The Chinese operations sent €700 million ($837 million) in profit to its parent company, Europe’s biggest automaker by sales, in 2009, he said.

VW in China sold 1.4 million cars at a total amount of €20 billion in 2009.

Volkswagen has said recently it wants to sell more than 10 million vehicles annually by 2018 as it pursues current world No. 1 carmaker Toyota.

Volkswagen’s brands include Audi, Seat, Bentley and Skoda.

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